Benthic-Pelagic state changes in the primary trophic level of an ancient tropical lake

Many large, ancient lakes support primarily planktonic-driven food webs. In contrast, the lowest trophic levels of the Malili Lakes of Sulawesi Island, Indonesia are dominated by benthic diatom communities composed mainly of endemic species. Centric diatoms are not observed in the current diatom assemblage and pennate pelagic species are rare. Using two deep drill-cores from Lake Towuti, we investigated whether the lake has always been dominated by benthic primary production. Despite the ultra-oligotrophic conditions observed in the lake today, we observed state changes characterized by productive planktonic communities and less productive, benthic-dominated diatom assemblages. Two periods of planktonic production, each lasting approximately 50 kyr, were dominated by a complex mixture of Aulacoseira spp., with valve densities >1.0 × 10⁹ valves/g with a maximum biovolume of 3.5 × 10¹² μm³/g. A similar planktonic assemblage was observed at much lower abundances (<10⁷valves/g) in the deeper sediments (>1 Ma), during the earliest stages of lake formation. Two periods of increased benthic primary production of approximately ~11 kyr in duration, originating from the littoral zone of the lake, were also observed, one between the two planktonic phases and one above the last planktonic maxima. The benthic periods were dominated by Cymbopleura spp., with valve densities of approximately 2.0 × 10⁸ valves/g and a maximum biovolume of 1.2 × 10¹¹ μm³/g. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis of sediment chemistry revealed that the benthic and pelagic states clustered with distinct chemical environments. The benthic phases were associated with well-mixed conditions in the lake whereas the planktonic phases were related to rapidly reoccurring water column mixing followed by intense stratification that generate nutrient recycling events. We conclude that lake mixing and nutrient cycling regimes regulated, in part, the switch between benthic and pelagic states in Lake Towuti.